Transcript of "Awma 2001 Plumes And Aircraft #0189"

1.
Potential for Power Plant Stack Exhaust to Disrupt AircraftOperationsAbstract No. 189 Session No. AS-1c-BJoel Reisman and David LeCureuxGreystone Environmental Consultants, Inc., 650 University Avenue, Suite 100, Sacramento,California 95825ABSTRACTPower plant siting studies near airports typically include an analysis of the distance, separation,height, configuration and lighting of structures that may influence aircraft takeoffs and landings.However, other operational factors may also pose potential hazards to aircraft. One of thesefactors is the large volume of high temperature combustion air from stacks that may createlocalized turbulent updrafts and present a windshear problem to aircraft flying overhead. Thispaper examines the physics of plume rise from stacks and develops a methodology fordetermining the vertical velocity component. Development of the methodology notwithstanding,official guidelines do not exist and are needed to allow siting engineers to evaluate their projectimpacts to determine if a potential safety hazard exists.INTRODUCTIONWith increased development and power needs, and because airports are typically compatiblewith industrial uses, power plants and other industrial facilities are increasingly being developednear airports; as a corollary, airports sometimes are seeking to expand operations towardindustrial parks. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Standards and Planning Sectionhas promulgated regulations that address requirements for physical obstructions (see FederalAviation Regulations (FAR) Part 77, Objects Affecting Navigable Airspace and Part 101,Moored Balloons, Kites, Unmanned Rockets And Unmanned Free Balloons), but has notpublished guidelines on other potential impacts to aircraft operations, such as hot exhaust plumesfrom power plant or heavy industrial stacks. Several interviews with FAA personnel indicatedthat no problems with thermal plumes affecting aircraft had ever been reported. However, whenthese types of projects are proposed, there are often questions raised by pilots and airportmanagers concerning the potential for a rapidly rising heat plume to impact aircraft operations bycausing air turbulence. The problem is of further concern because these plumes are not generallyvisible.Standard plume rise formulas, such as those developed by Briggs1,2 , apply to bent-over, buoyantplumes in windy conditions, have been verified by field data, and are employed in most EPAdispersion models. They are used to estimate gradual and final plume height from air emissionsources as a means to predict downwind ground level concentrations of stack emissions. Whileplume velocity is not needed in dispersion modeling, these formulas may be used tomathematically derive plume velocity equations. Thus, plume vertical velocity can be predictedas a function of elevation above stack top using stack exhaust parameters and ambient 1

2.
meteorological conditions. This enables performing a quantitative analysis of the potentialplume vertical velocity that an aircraft may encounter.EXHAUST PLUME BEHAVIORWhen exiting a stack, a typical combustion plume has vertical impetus due to (1) momentum, byvirtue of its stack exit velocity and (2) buoyancy, due to the fact that the exit gas is warmer thanthe ambient air. Upon exiting the stack, the exhaust plume grows in mass by entraining ambientair, causing the plume’s total velocity relative to the ambient wind velocity to decrease. Theentrainment of air is caused by self-induced turbulence derived from the plume’s initial velocityand buoyancy momentum as well as by atmospheric turbulence. The further the plume travels,the more air it entrains and the slower its velocity becomes relative to the ambient windvelocity3. Furthermore, the dominant feature in plume behavior is its buoyancy. Momentumforces are dominant only for the very initial plume portion directly above the stack and quicklydissipate.Briggs1,2 developed and refined equations for plumes rise for bent-over, buoyant plumes inwindy conditions, which have been verified by field data and are now in common use in mostdispersion modeling procedures endorsed by the U.S. EPA. The background and development ofthese plume rise equations has a long and complex history and will not be addressed in thispaper, rather, the basic equations will be presented and used to derive equations that can besolved for plume vertical velocity.Only plume rise behavior very near the stack top is dominated by momentum forces. Briggs2estimates buoyancy forces begin to dominate after approximately 10 seconds after exit. It isassumed that aircraft would not deliberately venture very close to the business end of a largeindustrial stack, hence, we will focus on equations that consider buoyant forces to be dominant.The well-established and verified “2/3 law” plume rise equation1,2 for the first and transitionalrise stages during all atmospheric conditions (i.e., unstable, neutral, and stable) is:z = 1.6 F1/3 x2/3 u-1 (1)where:z = Vertical plume rise above stack exit plane (m)F = Briggs’ buoyancy flux parameter, m4/sec3x = horizontal distance downwind from stack, mu = horizontal wind velocity, m/secBriggs’ buoyancy flux parameter, F, relates to the buoyancy of the plume at the stack exit, and isdefined as:F = Buoyancy force/πρa (2)The buoyancy force is the difference in weight between a parcel of stack gas and the volume ofambient air that it displaces;Buoyancy force = g(Ma - Ms) = g( ρaVa - ρsVs ) (3) 2

4.
(z) can be solved for using equation (9). Hence, the plume’s vertical velocity and height aresolvable and related by t.Thermal plume characteristics from several types of combustion sources were evaluated usingequations (9) and (10), as summarized in Table 1. Graphical representations of predicted plumevelocity with respect to height above stack top are presented in Figures 1 – 3 (in each case, thephysical stack height must be added to obtain velocity with respect to elevation above groundlevel (AGL)).Table 1: Source Scenarios for Plume Analysis Stack Parameters Source Type Temperature Diameter Actual Velocity Stack height (K) (m) (m/s) (m)A. Combined Cycle Natural Gas-Fired 350 5.6 18.1 40Combustion Turbine (200MW)B. Simple Cycle Natural Gas-Fired 543 6.2 38.0 27Combustion Turbine (170MW)C. Coal Fired - Steam Turbine (600 MW) 447 6.7 25.3 252Source ScenariosA. Modern Combined Cycle Power Plant These stack parameters are representative of a typical Class “F” combustion turbine with heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) unit capable of generating approximately 200 MW of electricity. The predicted vertical velocity of the plume is presented as a function of height above the stack in Figure 1 for various horizontal wind speeds. Note that the stack height must be added to the plume rise to obtain the plume centerline height above ground. As indicated by the equation, the lower the horizontal wind speed, the less entrainment and less “bent over” the plume is, resulting in a higher vertical component. Modern combined cycle power plants are thermally efficient, exceeding 55 percent. This means that less heat is discarded up the stack than in conventional thermal plants, which are only 30 – 33% efficient. Therefore, in general, plume velocities associated with combined cycle plants will be less, per heat input, than older, less efficient plants.B. Modern Simple Cycle Power Plant These stack parameters are representative of a typical Class “F” combustion turbine without a HRSG, typically used as “peaking” plants, for providing prompt electrical output on an intermittent basis. Overall output is approximately 170 MW of electricity. The predicted vertical velocity of the plume is presented as a function of height above the stack in Figure 2 for various horizontal wind speeds. As expected, higher vertical plume velocities result at any given height above stack due to the fact that there is no high-efficiency heat recovery process and more energy is contained in the exhaust plume. 4

6.
C. Coal-Fired Power Plant Coal-fired power plant stacks serve large boilers, and are often much taller than natural gas fired units in order to more effectively disperse their typically higher levels of air emissions. However, as presented in Table 1, because of the use of heat exchangers (“economizers”) to recover much of the waste heat, their exhaust characteristics may not necessarily result in a higher plume rise, or higher plume velocities. The stack data in Table 1 are representative of a typical coal fired unit generating approximately 600 MW of electricity. The predicted vertical velocity of the plume is presented as a function of height above the stack in Figure 3 for various horizontal wind speeds.FIELD DATANo published field data have been located to correlate these results. In March/April 1995, aconfidential study was conducted to investigate the potential effects that plumes from a powerstation near Kuala Lumpur could have on aircraft operations from a new airport currently beingconstructed there. The study was funded by the Malaysian Government. The study wasorganized as a joint program between the Flinders Institute for Atmospheric and Marine Sciences(FIAMS), the National Institute for Water and Atmosphere (NIWA), New Zealand and theInstitute for Flight Guidance and Control of the Technical University of Braunschweig (IFGC),Germany. NIWA carried out the numerical modeling of the plume, FIAMS was responsible forcarrying out the field measurements, while the IFGC interpreted the model results as well as theFIAMS measurements in terms of large transport aircraft. 6

7.
A FIAMS Cessna C340A atmospheric research aircraft was used in the collection of plume data.The FIAMS aircraft flew more than 400 traverses through the plumes near Sepang and anotherpower station near Kerteh, for comparison. Unfortunately, the final report remains confidential,and detailed data are not available, however, informal summary data conveyed to the authorindicate that, at 136 m above the stack, with horizontal winds of about 3 m/s, average verticalplume velocity is 6 m/s, with a peak of 10 m/s. The plume width is approximately 50 m. Nodata on the stack exhaust parameters are available, therefore, it is impossible to compare to thepredicted value using the method described in this paper.CONCLUSIONUsing a straightforward, validated equation for bent-over plume rise and taking the time rate ofchange, the vertical velocity component can be solved for using readily available stack exhaustdata. The graphical representation of the results of this procedure demonstrate that for even veryhot, large exhaust plumes, vertical velocities do not appear to be high enough to pose a threat toaircraft operations when aircraft maintain prudent distance from the stack mouth. However,further research and study is needed by the FAA or other agency to develop guidelines outliningwhat plume size and velocity constitutes a safety hazard, and for what type of aircraft. Theseguidelines would enable power plant siting engineers to evaluate potential sites near airports.REFERENCES1. Briggs, 1969. G. A. Briggs, “Plume Rise,” U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information.2. Briggs, 1975. G. A. Briggs, “Plume Rise Predictions,” Lectures on Air Pollution and Environmental Impact Analyses, American Meteorological Society, Boston, Massachusetts, September 29 – October 3.3. Beychok, 1979. M. R. Beychok, “Fundamentals of Stack Gas Dispersion,” Irvine, California. 7